[Jim from C-Town]

I am glad to hear you had such a good experience with your Altima. The ‘94 Altima I owned is the reason I would never buy another foreign car again. It was a total pig. constant problems and expensive to fix. Dumped it for a large American Car the Buick LeSabre. Have had several since. I drive several thousand miles a month you tend to drive less than 10k a year. I drove one of my LeSabres 195,000 miles sold it to one of the guys I worked with and he drove it to work for years. Hisson took it to college with him this year, has over 250k on it and still runs fine.

I am by no means a car fanatic, as a matter of fact I hate cars. I am in outside sales and a car is just a big expense. But I know cars and I know quality and comfort and I definitely prefer American cars.

The American car companies built at least as good and for my money significantly better cars (more room, comfort, value) than the foreign companies. The biggest problem that they have is the fact that the big three are a welfare and health insurance provider masquerading as a car company.

[Veto!]

I rented a LeSabre and thought it was wonderful, planned to buy one when my Altima wore out. But ....

You’re right about the 10,000 miles per year, though I drove from Seattle to Miami three times with it. No way I’d push her over 75 mph any more, though when it was new, we just flew across the country. Big fun.

Two of my friends in FL are GM and Ford retirees, and really depend on those pensions. The fellow who was a tool and dye maker with Ford gets only $600/mo from Ford plus very good health insurance and I don’t know what else. He’s been retired a long time, is now 90 and going strong. He’d be forced to sell his home without that Ford money.

My GM friend came from a poor family with 8 kids, worked her tush off on the assembly line, contracted lung cancer, lost a lung 20 years ago. She gets some kind of disability payment from GM and the government that almost supports her, but she has to work too. Thank God she can do caregiving 10 hours per week, but she’s really not very strong. I’d hate like hell to see her take a financial hit. Or any hardworking American who depends on those “welfare” payments.

I’m glad I met these two people a few months ago just to keep the argument real for me. Two sides, Jim from C-Town. OTOH, I worked in management in a publishing house 50-80 hour weeks, no overtime, no pension because I was just so tired I had to walk out the door before retirement age. Got paid lots less than a man in the same job. I’m working until I croak. Fortunately, I can produce a pretty good income, don’t have to work at Burger King. Some pretty impressive people do work at my local executive BK now, but that’s another story.